Te Akau Monday Update

David writes:

What a great weekend Te Akau Racing had - with five wins in just over 24 hours in New Zealand.

We won three races at Matamata on Saturday with Chica De Oro, Pilates and Born To Be Royal, and then Qali Al Farrasha won the Group 3 Grangewilliam Stud Taranaki Breeders' Stakes at Hawera. Sword Of Stars completed a fantastic weekend when she won at Timaru on Sunday. Well done to all of their owners.

I was particularly thrilled with the stakes success for Qali Al Farrasha. She is an Almanzor mare from the Burgundy mare Nucleonic, and we bred her with our very good friends David and Matthew Peacocke, and Greg Tomlinson of Nearco Stud. 

We also trained Nucleonic, and Nina, as we know Qali Al Farrasha, has been a really good mare for us. The way she won fresh-up on Saturday was pretty exciting. She has come back as a six-year-old looking stronger again and she has now earned over $700,000, having been four times Group One placed as well as winning the Group 2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes last season.  She's just such an honest mare who always tries her heart out.

She is coming home to the farm for about a ten-day spell just to freshen her up, and then Mark and Sam will get her ready for some of the big Group One races in New Zealand through the summer and into the autumn.

I also wanted to give a special mention to the South Canterbury Racing Club and the phenomenal job it did to promote the 100th birthday of the magnificent Phar Lap who was born not far from the actual racecourse.  To get the people they did on course for their meeting, a day overflowing with families and a real sense of community was perfect demonstration of exactly what racing can do - bring people and communities together.  Congratulations to the whole team - being raised in Timaru, Karyn always feels of lot of sentiment for the Club and we were both delighted for its hard working committee and team.

It is not very often that Te Akau is in front of the Trainers' Premiership this early in the season, but we have made a really good start. Mark and Sam currently have 24 wins from 121 starters, with the stable also leading with over $800,000 in prize money and delivering an impressive strike rate of 5.04.

There is an enormous amount of racing still to come and we never take anything for granted, but it is certainly encouraging to see the team doing so well at this early stage of the season.

I want to mention our apprentice Hayley Hassman who is also doing a fantastic job. Hayley rode Chica De Oro to win at Matamata on Saturday and has been making great progress. She recently received the Taiki Yanagida Trophy for Most Dedicated to Success at the Northern Apprentice Awards, having also won the Champion Apprentice Award at the recent Matamata Racing Club Awards.

We are really proud of Hayley. She works hard, listens and wants to learn, and it is always very satisfying to see a young person taking the opportunities that come their way and making the most of them.

It was interesting watching the racing in Australia on the weekend and I was reflecting on the stable's success there in the last few years.

We have won Group One races in Australia including the Futurity Stakes in Melbourne, the William Reid Stakes twice at Moonee Valley, in 2023 and 2024, the Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley, the Darley Champions' Sprint, the Epsom Handicap, the Chipping Norton Stakes, the Surround Stakes, the Rosehill Guineas and the Empire Rose Stakes, to name a few.

This year we won Group One races in Australia with Belle Cheval claiming the Vinery Stud Stakes in Sydney and Geegees Mistruth victorious in the Robert Sangster Stakes in Adelaide.

We are very proud of what our team has achieved on both sides of the Tasman and we are determined to continue building on that.

So congratulations to Mark and Sam, Reece, Hunter and Ben and all of our team for such a great results in New Zealand and Australia.

There are so many people involved in getting a horse to the races and winning - of course our owners, without their loyalty and belief we would not be here.  Our assistant trainers who I mentioned above, our stable and our farm teams, riders, vets, farriers and all the people working behind the scenes. They work incredibly hard with these horses day in and day out and do an absolutely unbelievable job.

Karyn and I are very lucky to be surrounded by such hardworking and dedicated people who are so competent, clever and passionate about what they do.  

What an absolutely beautiful day it is has been today at Te Akau Stud as I drove around the farm. The spring grass is really starting to take off, the spelling horses' coats are blossoming, the cattle are all putting on really good weight, and the ewes and lambs are doing exceptionally well. I couldn't be happier with how everything is looking.

It looks like we are going to be in for an exciting year on the farm, with wool, lamb and beef all selling at very encouraging prices. Interestingly enough, this is the first year in 47 years of farming that I would be able to say that all three are looking so positive at the same time.

Spring really is my favourite time of the year. There is nothing quite like driving around Te Akau Stud in spring, seeing the grass growing, the lambs thriving and everything coming together.  Of course we are also starting to welcome some of our new foals home, and everyone always looks very much forward to that!

I always enjoy being on the farm but last week we were in Auckland for a few days.  On Saturday we had a lovely lunch with friends and it was special being with Sir Brendan and Lady Jo Lindsay watching our Champion 2YO and now Cambridge Stud sire Sword of State produce his first Group One winner in one of Australia’s most coveted races, courtesy of a brilliant performance by first-crop colt Warwoven in the A$1 million Yulong Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill.

What an exciting stallion he is, we have a good number of promising horses by Sword of State in the stable, with of course Sword of Stars, his 3YO filly winning on Sunday.

The main reason we were in Auckland was because last Tuesday it was a very special day personally for Karyn and me and our family, when we travelled to Government House for my investiture.

It was a very humbling occasion and something I will never forget. I have been incredibly fortunate to spend my life doing something that I love, and racing has given Karyn and me so many wonderful experiences and friendships.

Although my name is on the honour, I absolutely see it very much as recognition of the many wonderful people who have been part of the journey - our owners, our team, trainers, jockeys, breeders, friends and supporters, and of course our family.

We have both been overwhelmed by the number of lovely messages we have received. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to contact us. We really do appreciate it.

It was also great to see another very exciting result in Australia on Saturday when Pinatubo sired the Group One Flight Stakes' winner Global Goal at Randwick.

We have been very excited about Pinatubo and his future as a stallion, and of course we bought a Pinatubo colt from Darook Park at the Magic Millions earlier this year. We know him as Pavonis and the team has really liked what they have seen from him. I have been saying for some time that I couldn't understand why there were still shares available in such a nice colt, and I am delighted to say that the final shares have now been snapped up.

Congratulations to all his owners. It is going to be very exciting following his progress, particularly when you see his sire producing Group One winners like this.

Another stallion I have enormous admiration for is Snitzel.  What an incredible sire he has been.

He won his fifth Australian General Sires' Premiership for the 2025/26 season, which was a remarkable achievement, particularly as it came after his death in June 2025.

His progeny just keep performing at the highest level. In the last year his Group One winners included Marhoona, the brilliant Snitzel filly who won The Galaxy in Sydney, Campione D'Italia in the ATC Sires' Produce Stakes, and Fireball in the Champagne Stakes.

We have seen time and again what beautiful fillies Snitzel can produce, and they have been incredibly successful both on the racecourse and ultimately as broodmares.

That makes it even more surprising to me that we still have one final 2.5% share available in our Snitzel – Bubbleberry filly.  Her racing name is Petillante which means 'sparkling and bubbly' and her stable name, appropriately is Cristal.

I bought her from Coolmore Stud at the Magic Millions for A$325,000 and we have so much time for her. She is a beautiful filly who has shown us plenty already, and being by Snitzel gives her enormous residual value if she can perform on the track.

From the 15 horses that we bought at the Magic Millions, she is now the only horse with a share remaining - just 2.5%.

If you want to have a bit of fun with a really nice filly from one of the greatest sires Australia has seen, I would get in touch quickly because I don't think that final share will be there for long.

We still have a final handful of shares available in a few horses from Karaka too. You can look at them on our website and get full details there. Feel free to call me anytime on 021 925 151 if you would like me to recommend a horse to suit you and your budget, or email Karyn on [email protected] for all the latest information.

The one thing that just staggers me in racing is how often some of the best horses in the stable are the last to sell - Imperatriz and Avantage are prime examples of this and they won 19 Group 1 races between them, earned about $10 million in stakes, and sold for a combined $10 million plus!

I am really confident that the yearlings we purchased this year are one of the best line-ups we have ever bought, and I am very excited about what we are seeing from them.

So best of luck to everybody who has invested. There are certainly exciting times ahead.

It's a busy day this week for the team with a good contingent of horses lining up at the Matamata trials tomorrow, including some promising two year olds stepping out for the first time. There is so much to look forward to at this time of the year!

Best of luck to all our owners with runners over the coming days, and thank you as always for the incredible support you give our team.

Go the Tangerine!